Strikeforce's Tony Johnson brings heavy hands from humble start

Still just 19 months into his MMA job, Johnson has earned knockout or TKO wins in each of his first three professional bouts.

And as Johnson recently told TAGG Radio (www.taggradio.com), the official radio partner of MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com), his initial success is a far cry from his fight sport beginnings.

“I grew up just an athlete in high school playing basketball, no wrestling background or anything in high school,” Johnson said. “I went to college. I played a year of basketball in college. And then just trying to stay in shape, my buddy Luke Caudillo — he’s also a Strikeforce fighter now, he’s fought in the UFC a couple of times — he had just started getting into the sport. And he wanted me to come hit Thai pads one day.”

Johnson said the thought of a different kind of exercise sounded appealing.

“I hated to run, and I hated to do cardio at the time,” Johnson said. “I went in to hit Thai pads, and sometimes you either have it or you don’t. And I guess with my basketball background and my eye-hand coordination, the first day of hitting Thai pads I was good.”

While Johnson was excited with his natural affinity for the sport, his new training partners were less impressed.

“Being a new guy in the gym, they had this trick,” Johnson said. “They were like, ‘Oh, yeah. Why don’t you throw this head gear on and spar with Luke? He’s got a fight coming up.’ Again this is the first day in the gym.

“(So I said), ‘Yeah, OK. I’ll throw it on. What harm could it be?’

“I didn’t really know what sparring was about. I was hitting Thai pads, and Thai pads don’t hit back. Luke broke my nose and knocked me out cold the first day in there. My nose looked like a water fountain. [Blood] was spurting out with my heartbeat, almost. And these guys thought it was the funniest thing in the world, talking, ‘Basketball players can’t fight. Go back to the court.'”

Undeterred, Johnson returned for more the following day.

“I came in the next day, and I was like, ‘Give me that head gear back, and let’s do this again,'” Johnson said. “Ever since then I’ve just fought. They called me up a month later, and they said, ‘Hey, we’ve got an amateur show in Denver. Do you want to fight on it?’

“(I said), ‘Heck, yeah. Lace me up. Let’s do this.’ I fought Muay Thai for almost six years after that. And then about two years ago I started making the transition into MMA. That’s my background. It’s just mostly Muay Thai and Golden Gloves boxing.”

Despite his relative inexperience in the sport, Johnson said the thrill of competing kept his interest high.

“It’s an incredible rush,” Johnson said. “Anybody that fights and has been in there will tell you it’s a rush better than any kind of drug or anything that you could possibly do. You feel on top of the world.”

Johnson’s striking background makes him a danger on his feet. The 25-year-old’s ground game is admittedly still in the developmental stages.

“I’ve trained a lot of no-gi (grappling),” Johnson said. “As far as the rankings, originally I started training in the Miletich Fighting System in the Midwest. We didn’t use the gi. It was all no-gi stuff.

“I just now started to get into the gi training to get my ranking. So of course I’m still at the white-belt level as far as my ranking. In the fights, man, I haven’t got tested on the ground yet. The one time I’ve been to the ground, it was me on top. And it was just ground and pound.

“Other than that, I’m guessing that this is the first fight that I’m really going to get tested on the ground.”

Johnson will be facing Strikeforce and Gladiator Challenge veteran Eric Lawson (7-2) on the undercard of Friday’s “Strikeforce: Destruction” event. Johnson feels his opponent will be looking to take the fight to the mat immediately.

“I know [Lawson] is looking to come out and shoot right away,” Johnson said. “I’ve watched some video. He just waits for the first commitment on a punch and takes the first shot he can. We’ll see where my ground stands.”

Of course, if Johnson can impose his own gameplan, it may be another day before his ground skills are put to the test.

“I’m definitely looking to keep it on the feet,” Johnson said. “My gameplan is just going to be sprawl and brawl, I guess you could say. If it does go to the ground, I’m not counting out a triangle or an arm bar. I’ve got long legs. I’m lanky, 6-foot-2. So I throw on a quick triangle.

“But I’m definitely going to be looking for submissions but be looking to stand-up. I like to keep it standing and bang it out. It’s always an exciting fight to watch. And it’s fun to stay off the ground and not wrestle, throw some blows.”

Lawson, who owns just one career knockout win, has suggested he may try to outstrike Johnson. The Nebraska-born striker said he hopes the claim is not just pre-fight posturing.

“I’m going to be looking for the knockout,” Johnson said. “I read an interview where [Lawson] actually claims he’s looking to knock me out in the first round. So I hope he wants to stand up and bang and do that. I’ll give the crowd a highlight reel.”

This story, written by John Morgan, was produced by TAGG Radio (www.taggradio.com) specially for MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). The show — which is hosted by fighter/broadcaster Frank Trigg, Gorgeous George and ace producer Goze — books some of the biggest names in MMA. Download all the former episodes at www.taggradio.com, or tune into TAGG Radio’s live shows Monday-Friday at noon ET/9 a.m. PT.

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